In 372 CE, Buddhism was introduced to the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo from China and gained state support. Because Buddhist practice relied on scriptures, this encouraged wider use of written Classical Chinese (Chinese characters) in religious and court settings. These conditions helped make Chinese-character literacy a key tool for elite communication in Northeast Asia.
In 384 CE, Buddhism was introduced to Baekje, another Korean kingdom with strong ties to the Chinese cultural world. As temples formed and monks trained, importing and copying sutras in Classical Chinese became more routine. Baekje later served as an important bridge carrying Buddhist texts and Chinese-character learning onward to Japan.
Japanese historical tradition links a Paekche scholar named Wani (Wangin) with early instruction in Chinese learning at the Yamato court, dated by later scholarship to the early 5th century. Even though details are debated, the story reflects a real pattern: literacy in Chinese characters reached Japan largely through Korean intermediaries and immigrant scholar groups. This set the stage for Buddhist texts to be read and copied when Buddhism arrived more fully.
In 414 CE, the Gwanggaeto Stele was erected for a Goguryeo king and inscribed entirely in Classical Chinese. It is a major early example showing that Chinese characters were used for official public writing on the Korean side. Such literate practices provided a model for later Buddhist and diplomatic documents across the region.
In the early 6th century, Silla (the third major Korean kingdom) officially accepted Buddhism as a state religion (traditionally dated to 527–528). Official recognition meant temples, rituals, and scripture-based study expanded under royal backing. This widened the social reach of Classical Chinese literacy, since sutras and related writings were mainly read and copied in Chinese characters.
In the mid-6th century, the Baekje court sent the Yamato court Buddhist scriptures (sutras) and an image of the Buddha, a key moment in Japan’s early Buddhist history. Sources disagree on the exact year (commonly 538 or 552), but the event marks Buddhism’s public entry into elite Japanese life. Because sutras were written in Chinese characters, their arrival also strengthened the practical need for Chinese-character reading and copying in Japan.
In 602 CE, the Baekje monk Gwalleuk traveled to Japan and is recorded as bringing specialized texts and technical knowledge, including calendrical materials. This illustrates how Buddhist-linked travel could carry written knowledge alongside religious practice. It also reinforced networks where literacy in Classical Chinese supported both ritual and statecraft.
By the early 7th century, copying sutras (shakyō) had become a widespread Buddhist devotion in Japan, supported by elites and temples. The practice required scribes trained to reproduce long Classical Chinese texts accurately, pushing the growth of reading and writing skills tied to Chinese characters. Over time, these habits influenced Japanese approaches to writing, including experiments that later led toward phonetic use of characters.
Between 723 and 727/728 CE, the Silla monk Hyecho traveled through Central and South Asia and wrote a travel account in Classical Chinese. The work shows Korean monks using Chinese characters as a shared written language for Buddhist learning and international communication. It also demonstrates how Buddhist networks supported long-distance movement of texts and ideas across Asia.
In the mid-8th century, Japan’s government promoted a nationwide system of official temples, strengthening Buddhism’s role in the state. This expansion increased demand for sutras, lectures, and trained scribes who could handle Chinese-character texts. As temple libraries and copying projects grew, Chinese characters became even more central to Japanese religious and administrative writing.
From 764 to 770 CE, Japan produced the Hyakumantō Darani—mass-printed dhāraṇī (Buddhist spell/prayer) texts placed in small wooden pagodas, commissioned by Empress Shōtoku. This project linked Chinese-character text to an early large-scale printing effort, showing how Buddhist devotion could drive new ways of reproducing writing. It also helped establish printing as a tool for religious and political aims in Japan.
In 804–805 CE, the monk Saichō traveled to Tang China with an official mission and returned with many Buddhist texts and training linked to the Tiantai (Tendai) tradition. His work helped shift Japanese Buddhism toward new schools that depended on careful copying, cataloging, and interpretation of Chinese-character scriptures. This late-8th to early-9th century phase marks a consolidated, mature system where Buddhist institutions were major engines for transmitting, preserving, and reworking Chinese-character literacy in Japan.
Transmission of Chinese Characters via Buddhist Texts to Korea and Japan (c. 5th–10th centuries CE)